A Time For Hope
by Crittab
Summary: An accident shows Luke and Lorelai what they needed to see. complete


DISCLAIMER - I don't own any characters mentioned in my story they are all legally owned and created by the wb.  
  
A time for hope  
  
"Luke, coffee ASAP, im on a caffeine low here." Lorelei whined holding her cup out to Luke over the counter in his diner.  
  
"I just gave you some Lorelei, how the hell can you possible have finished it already?  
  
"Have you ever heard of nucleus caffienaritas Luke"?  
  
" As a matter of fact no, I really haven't Lorelei"  
  
"Crap, I was hoping you had so I could have used that one"  
  
"Sorry, why don't I just go and study the dictionary so you can use your big weird words on me"  
  
"Here one you should know. COFFFEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE"  
  
"You've already had 3 cups, im cutting you off."  
  
"NOOOO!!! You cant Luke pleeaaase don't do that, its early if I don't get enough coffee I. well ill fall asleep at the wheel on my way to work and never ever be able to buy anything from here again, and you will have the weight of my untimely demise on your shoulders for ever and ever and ever."  
  
"No more coffee"  
  
"Fine then, ill go to Dooses and buy my coffee and make it myself."  
  
"And I wont feel bad when you poison yourself.  
  
Lorelei sighed  
  
"You're a bad bad man Luke Danes"  
  
"Fine im a bad man, im still cutting you off"  
  
"Okay then, I can here the bagpipes playing at my funeral" at the point Lorelei hummed to the tune of amazing grace as she slowly exited Luke's diner and headed towards her car.  
  
As Lorelei arrived at the inn she put her coat on a hook in the employees lounge and entered the kitchen to talk to her best friend and employee Sookie.  
  
"Hey Sookie, what's up?"  
  
"Nothing much Lorelei, how are you?"  
  
"Other than my strange lack of caffeine im alright"  
  
"Luke cut you off again?"  
  
"Yep"  
  
"I see well, I made a fresh pot over there."  
  
"Your amazing Sookie"  
  
"Oh I know, it's just a perk of being me."  
  
After her brief conversation with sookie Lorelei made herself some coffee and decided to go help Michel at the front desk.  
  
About 15 minutes after she got there the telephone rang. Being closest to it Michel quickly picked it up, in his strong French accent he said:  
  
"independence inn"  
  
"of course monsieur, one moment please"  
  
he brought the phone to his chest and looked at Lorelei "you have a call miss Gilmore"  
  
"thank you Michel" Lorelei said taking the phone.  
  
'hello?" Lorelei said into the phone.  
  
"hey Lorelei" said the man on the other end of the phone.  
  
"Christopher, how are you?"  
  
"im great Lorelei, I called you to tell you something I think you and Rory need to know"  
  
"and what's that"  
  
"im getting married Lorelei." Lorelei didn't speak.  
  
"Lorelei, are you there??"  
  
"uh, yeah, wow that's great Christopher what's her name?"  
  
'Sherry, she moved here a few months ago and lives across the hall from me in my apartment building."  
  
"umm that's wonderful, im sure Rory will be so happy for you, I know I am"  
  
"thank you Lorelei, hey call me after you talk to Rory ok? Jamie wants to meet her, and i've told her so much about Rory, she's even asked me if I thought Rory might want to be in the brides party at the wedding, she a fantastic women Lorelei. I think you might like her"  
  
'I know I will, good luck Christopher, talk to you later bye."  
  
"bye Lorelei"  
  
after they said good bye Lorelei thought of all the ways she could tell Rory without making her get completely pissed off, she finally came to the conclusion that there was no possible way tell Rory without pissing her off so she just decided to just come right out and say it.  
  
Rory was just arriving at home off the bus from a long day at Chilton preparatory academy. For most students the day would have been a grueling and unforgiving one, as there had been 2 novel studies and a book report due in various classes. But for Rory it was just using her 2 favorite pastimes reading and writing as a way to get good marks in school.  
  
As Rory exited through the narrow door on the bus she was very surprised to see her mother waiting for her at the bus stop.  
  
Hey mom, what are you doing here? Inquired Rory.  
  
What? Im not allowed to meet my very favorite daughter at the bus stop when she gets home from school? Lorelei retaliated with a mocking tone in her voice.  
  
Mom, im your only daughter, that line hasn't worked for 10 years.  
  
O well, it was worth a try.  
  
What are you really doing here mom.  
  
Uh..Umm well, I was kind of hoping we could talk.  
  
Ok. about what.?  
  
Umm, how about your school??  
  
Mom, we talk about school every day when I come home, I know that's not the reason you came all the way over here to talk to me, is something wrong with you?? Your not dying. are you???  
  
No honey, im not dying, and no school wasn't the reason I wanted to talk to you.  
  
Well it has to be something important, or you would have waited until I got home to talk to me about it, so what is it.  
  
It's about Christopher.  
  
Dad? What about him, is he okay?  
  
Umm, honey im not sure this is the best place to talk about this, ms. Patty could be lurking around anywhere.  
  
Your right, do you want to go to Luke's?  
  
Is it on you?  
  
Of course  
  
Sure then, id love to go to Luke's, I've been dieing for a coffee ever since I finished mine this morning  
  
Mom, you had three glasses full this morning, and that was only 5 hours ago, this obsession you have with caffeine is going to kill you.  
  
You're giving me the coffee speech?? As I recall Luke had to cut you off last night after you're forth cup.  
  
Well those were extreme circumstances  
  
Mmhmm, im sure, lets go.  
  
Okay, come on.  
  
As Rory and Lorelei entered the diner they went to take a seat in a booth in the corner of the room. Luke very promptly came up to them, wearing his trademark plaid shirt and backward baseball cap. He was carrying a notepad and a pen was place behind his ear.  
  
Hey Luke  
  
Hey Lorelei, Rory.  
  
It's kind of empty in her right now Luke.  
  
Of course its empty, its 3 o'clock in the afternoon, people are working right now, which brings me to my question, which is why aren't you at the inn?  
  
Because I decided to pick up Rory from the bus, and since I own the inn, I can basically come and go as I please.  
  
Ahh, well then in that case, can I get you guys something?  
  
Yes Luke we will have to coffees and two Danishes please.  
  
And you Rory?  
  
Ha ha, very funny Luke.  
  
Ill be back in a sec. With that final word Luke walked away leaving Rory and Lorelei to continue their previous conversation.  
  
So mom, what's up with dad?  
  
Well he sort of. Met someone.  
  
And..  
  
And apparently they have become very very close.  
  
Close as in, hey do you want to come to the Friday night poker game, or close as in it, hey do you want to join me for dinner and some face sucking for desert.  
  
Umm, I think its closer to the second one; they're getting married hon.  
  
What, i..Im confused now, he just, and I express JUST asked you to marry him, like 3 months ago. How could he meet a woman, fall in love and get engaged in that amount of time.  
  
Look all I know is she wants to meet you before the wedding, and she would like to be a part of your life.  
  
Sorry my life is already way to full, I don't think I could spare, even the smallest part,  
  
Listen, even if you don't want to have her there, she's going to be as soon as she marries your father, the least you could do is try.  
  
I don't want to try; this woman is ruining any chance we have left of becoming a family with dad.  
  
That's not going to happen anyway hon.; I don't love your father.  
  
I know but I thought maybe you could fall in love with him, like you did when you were 16.  
  
Well I wont im sorry honey that is not going to happen, so please just try to be nice to her and be in the wedding like she wants you to.  
  
Wait, you didn't say anything about being in the wedding. There is no way in hell I am being in that wedding.  
  
Ill let you sleep on it hon., you don't have to make your discition right now.  
  
Im sorry im getting so upset about this mom, its foolish. You know what, im just going to go home and cool down, okay?  
  
But what about you're coffee and Danish?  
  
Umm, why don't you eat, or give it to a homeless person.  
  
Honey do I have to remind you of the fact that we are in stars hollow, there are no homeless people in stars hollow.  
  
I don't know mom, just bring it home for me then, I have to go anyways, I have a lot of homework, ill see you later, bye.  
  
After she said goodbye Rory left the diner just as Luke was bringing them their orders.  
  
Umm, is she okay? Luke inquired  
  
Im afraid not Luke she really pissed off.  
  
What's wrong with her?  
  
Her father is getting married.  
  
I see, are you okay?  
  
Yeah im really happy for him, I always hoped a woman would come along whom he could really love, and not just hey your cute want to shack up? Sort of love, I mean really love, and now he has that.  
  
Luke listened to her speak, he didn't miss a word, her voice was like beautiful music to him, he had always felt that way, he would never admit it to her though, it might ruin his image as a gruff guy that was hard as stone on the inside.  
  
Yeah. He managed just before more customers entered  
  
Well I should go serve them.  
  
Yeah, ill see you later Luke.  
  
You to Lorelei, bye  
  
Bye Luke.  
  
With that Lorelei exited the diner as Luke resumed his duties and served the other customers.  
  
The week passed slowly for Rory and Lorelei, as Rory was upset, and it always upset Lorelei just to see Rory that way.  
  
Soon it was Friday night, and it came with the package deal of a dinner with Lorelei's parents, Richard and Emily.  
  
Lorelei hated going to her parent's house. It was as if she was walking into hell on earth every Friday night. But Lorelei would do anything for her daughter Rory, and in this case Emily and Richard had been helping her pay for Rory's education at Chilton in return for the weekly date, so they could once again become somewhat like a family.  
  
That whole day Rory had been attempting to come up with a plan on how to divert attention away from her father's marriage. She knew the moment her mother mentioned it her grandmother would go at her full force, saying things like how it all could have been avoided had Lorelei not made the mistake of letting him go, or some other thing like that.  
  
Rory and Lorelei sat quietly on the couch in the living room as they waited for Richard and Emily to come back into the room. Rory was still thinking of anecdotes or jokes to ease the mod with when her grandfather's voice interrupted her thoughts as he reentered the room.  
  
"here are your drinks girls" he said as he sat down in a chair on the other side of the room. Emily entered just after him and sat in a small couch directly across from Rory and Lorelei.  
  
"so what's happening with the two of you these days" Richard inquired.  
  
"oh not to much dad, oh but Christopher call"  
  
"really, well what did he say?" Emily asked  
  
thought Rory.  
  
'well he said he had met a woman and they we planning on getting married"  
  
"well good for him" Richard said cheerfully  
  
"good?, what's good about it, this isn't good, how will he be able to raise a child by another woman if he's married and living in another state?"  
  
"well mom he's been a good father thus far, and he's lived-in Montana for years."  
  
'how can you possible be happy about this Lorelei"  
  
"because he deserves my happiness mom, and im very happy for them"  
  
"but how can you be happy, he's practically deserting you and Rory"  
  
"that's not true mom"  
  
"yes it is, and you know this all could have been avoided had you accepted his marriage proposal when it came along"  
  
"umm grandma grandpa, I uh, got the big story in this weeks issue of the Franklin" Rory said, trying to lighten the mood.  
  
"well that's wonderful Rory, what's the topic?" Richard asked  
  
"well its on Mardi gras, seeing as its next week they asked me to write a story on how it started and what the beads mean and stuff like that."  
  
"Well you will defiantly have to pick me up a copy, I look forward to reading it." At that point a maid walked in the room.  
  
"excuse me Mrs. and Mr. Gilmore, the chef has asked me to please inform you that your dinner is ready to be served."  
  
"well thank you uhh, umm, im sorry I've forgotten you name again, Sylvia was it?"  
  
"umm, well no ma'am, its Charlene"  
  
"Ahh, yes of course, come on now everyone, and lets not keep the chef waiting." At that point both Richard and Emily stood up and left the room, be fore leaving  
  
Lorelei looked at Rory and quickly mouthed thank you, as they walked into the dining room.  
  
The remainder of the dinner went quite smoothly. Richard and Emily inquired as to how Rory's school was going and how the inn was doing, and no one said anything else about Christopher for the rest of the night.  
  
4 months later  
  
Rory had eventually gotten over the fact that her mother and father would never get back together, and had decided to accompany her Lorelei to Montana for the wedding. 2 moths before she had gone to Montana for a week to get to know Jamie, she turned out to be okay. After some long and hard thinking she decided to be in the wedding after all. Jamie had made her a bridesmaid. Rory even helped Jamie pick out her wedding dress.  
  
Lorelei and Rory had been driving for hours and were now in Montana. It was around 9 pm and it was pitch black outside of the car except for the two small lights on the road made by the headlights of the car.  
  
The road was empty except for the lone jeep containing Rory and Lorelei. Rory had long before fallen asleep; Lorelei was wide-awake though, attempting to take all the right turns on the long windy road.  
  
Suddenly the jeep was airborne; it was gliding through the air, wheels spinning underneath. Rory was awakened bye the sudden feeling of the car being lifted off the ground. The split second it was in the air seem like a decade to Lorelei and Rory. Suddenly the jeep landed in the ditch; it landed on a curve and flipped over three times before it came to a halt on its roof in the ditch. Rory and Lorelei had both been thrown from the jeep upon impact. Rory landed a little further from the car than Lorelei, and was knocked unconscious.  
  
Lorelei was thrown through the windshield and landed on a rock; slowly her blood covered the rock. The impact knocked her unconscious.  
  
15 minutes later a car came bye, in its headlights it saw the shape of another car so the man inside stopped to see if everything was all right. He got out of his car and quickly scanned the inside of the car, seeing no one inside he quickly scanned the area. About 3 metres away he saw a tangled object and another about 2 metres from that. As he got closer he could make out the shape of both of them to be women. He ran to the nearest on and removed her hair from her face. He took a good look and then ran to the other body, he looked at her before he realized he had a cell in his car, he quickly ran back to his car and called 911.  
  
10 minutes later 2 ambulances and a police car came up to the scene. Four men ran from the 2 ambulances and quickly put Rory and Lorelei into stretchers and rode off down the road with them to the hospital.  
  
At the hospital Rory and Lorelei were both taken directly to separate operating rooms and were operated on for hours.  
  
The nurse at the front counter was given the task of searching their belongings for identities and trying to find numbers of family of friends to come down to the hospital. While the nurse was going through Lorelei's wallet she found her drivers license and a small piece of paper with a phone number written on it.  
  
"Hello?" said Luke as he picked up the telephone.  
  
"Hello sir, I want wondering if you knew Lorelei or Rory Gilmore?"  
  
"Umm, yes I do, would you mind if I asked who this is?"  
  
"I am a nurse at memorial hospital in sheerbrooke Montana, would you mind if I asked your name sir?"  
  
"Luke Danes, are Rory and Lorelei okay?"  
  
"Your friends were brought in about 30 minutes ago, they were in an automobile accident."  
  
"Oh my god, im coming down right now, I should be there in about. 10 hours"  
  
"Yes sir, ill inform the doctor, thank you, goodbye"  
  
After they hung up Luke quickly closed up the diner and ran out with his keys. 11 hours later he arrived at memorial hospital, he ran into the hospital and quickly found his way to the front desk.  
  
"Im looking for Lorelei and Rory Gilmore, are they here?"  
  
"Yes sir, they are in intensive cure on floor 3 in the east wing"  
  
Without another word Luke ran up the stairs and began looking in windows to see either Rory or Lorelei. He first found Rory; he quickly opened the door to the room and sat next to Rory.  
  
Rory had tubes and wires stuck all over her; her face was covered in gashes and had been stitched up. She had a bloody patch on her forehead and a cast on her right arm, her neck was also in a brace, she was asleep as far as Luke could tell.  
  
"Rory" Luke said in a quiet choked up voice  
  
"Rory please wake up" Luke felt as though it were his own flesh and blood who was in that bed, he had always though of Rory as his daughter. Seeing her on that bed broke his heart. It was the first time in years he felt himself start to cry.  
  
"Rory, sweetheart, wake up please Rory please"  
  
At that point a doctor came in and took Luke out of the room to tell him her and Lorelei's condition.  
  
"Are you Luke Danes?" he began  
  
"Yes sir, it she okays? Where's Lorelei?"  
  
"Before I Let you see Lorelei or go back in there I need to tell you their conditions. So please just try to be strong okay?"  
  
Luke remained silent just looking at the doctor as he continued.  
  
"Well start with Rory Gilmore, she has some trauma to her spinal cord, as you can see she's in a neck brace, we don't know get if she will be able to walk again. She also has some internal injuries, including 2 broken ribs a bruised lung a broken arm broken leg and fractured elbow. That's all for Rory. Now Lorelei, she has very severe head trauma, we don't know whether it has affected her memory yet or her speech. At the moment she is in a coma. But these things don't usually last to long, but there is no way to tell how long hers will last. She has a burst appendix, which we were forced to remove. She also has 4 broken ribs and a broken leg and fractured arm. Now Lorelei's room is just down the hall and to the left, ill ask you not to say anything negative though, and not to mention Rory, because it is possible that though she can't respond or wake, she may still be able to hear you."  
  
Their conditions were much worse that Luke ever could have imagined, it was taking all of his strength not to break down.  
  
"Put them in the same room" he said gruffly  
  
"Excuse me?"  
  
"They need to be in the same room doctor, they need each other, please, just move them together".  
  
"Alright, ill get someone to do that immediately."  
  
"Thank you" Luke said before he ran down the hall to Lorelei's room.  
  
When Luke entered the room the site of Lorelei was almost too much for him to bear. Luke walked over to her bed and sat in a chair beside her.  
  
"Hey Lorelei, umm, I really don't know what to say. I am so sorry this happened to you, I. Rory needs you; she really does, and.I. need your business. Please wake up Lorelei."  
  
At that moment Rory was wheeled in the room and her bed was place on the other side of Lorelei's. After the men left Luke brought his chair in between the 2 beds and held their hands until he fell asleep.  
  
Luke woke up 4 hours later. It took him a moment to remember where he was. He looked at the two women on either side of him who were still asleep. He stood up and walked over to the window. He looked outside and was surprised to see the ground covered with sparkling white snow. He sighed and took in the beautiful sights outside. After a moment of watching the snowfall he turned back and went and sat back down in his seat. He spent the day looking back and forth between Rory and Lorelei.  
  
That night after Luke had fallen asleep Rory woke up. She took in her whereabouts before she realized she couldn't sit up. She moved her eyes to the left and then the right where she saw Luke.  
  
"Luke" she managed, her voice was hoarse.  
  
Luke woke up and looked over at her.  
  
"Hey there"  
  
"I.I cant move Luke"  
  
"Yeah I know, you have a few casts, and a neck brace on"  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Well. the doctor said you may need them because you hurt your spine."  
  
"w..Will I be able to move again, Luke tell me I can move again," Rory said, tears welling in her eyes.  
  
"I don't know Rory, well just have to wait and see, I think you will"  
  
"Where's my mom?"  
  
" Right here beside me Rory"  
  
"Mom? Mom says something"  
  
"She cant Rory, she's still in a. she's still asleep Rory"  
  
"Im so tired Luke, I can't even keep my eyes open anymore"  
  
"That's ok, just sleep, ill be right here, im not going anywhere"  
  
Rory didn't respond she had drifted off to deep sleep. Luke's heart was broken he couldn't stand to here her say words like * I cant move* and mom say something. Luke decided to go get some coffee.  
  
When Luke returned he decided to try to talk to Lorelei, in case she could hear him.  
  
"Hey Lorelei, its Luke" Luke felt foolish having to introduce himself but he kept going  
  
"Im right hear, and so is Rory, though she's asleep, she's still right here next to you. Are you feeling okay? Please wake up, please Lorelei, you have to wake up.  
  
"Luke?" Lorelei said in a weak quiet whisper  
  
'Lorelei, are you okay, im here so is Rory, were all here."  
  
"don't cry Luke"  
  
"what?"  
  
"you're crying"  
  
Lorelei reached up her hand and wiped off the tears.  
  
'thanks"  
  
"where am I?"  
  
"were in the hospital in Montana."  
  
"why are we here"  
  
"you were in a car crash"  
  
"who's that" Lorelei said motioning to Rory on the other bed  
  
"what? That's not funny Lorelei"  
  
"im not trying to be funny, I.I don't remember anyone, but you." ' You don't remember Rory, the girl on that bed? she your daughter Lorelei"  
  
"Luke, all I remember is you, and that I love you"  
  
"Lorelei, your sick, you aren't thinking like yourself"  
  
"I don't remember much Luke, but I do remember the man that I love, you"  
  
"mom?" came a weak voice from Rory.  
  
"she's awake Rory" said Luke "but before you say anything you should know something"  
  
"what?"  
  
"she doesn't remember you, she has amnesia."  
  
"What, mom, you have to remember me, please say you remember me."  
  
"i..im trying I just cant, im sorry, its Rory right?"  
  
"mom you aren't funny" Rory said tears flowing freely from her eyes.  
  
"Im not trying to be im so sorry, I just don't remember"  
  
"try to remember"  
  
"I AM RORY I.I just don't, im sorry."  
  
After 3 weeks in the hospital both Rory and Lorelei were released. Rory was confined to a wheel chair but had full use of her arms, and her legs were expected to heal, and over the weeks Lorelei had gotten to know Rory again, but still had no memory of stars hollow, her parents or any other details of her life. The only thing she was sure of was her love for Luke.  
  
When they were home Luke stayed with them for a while to help them out. Due to their injuries they couldn't do many things they used to, so Luke had lots of things to do.  
  
About a week after they got back they all decided to go to Luke's diner for lunch. When they walked into the diner hundreds of memories good and bad came flooding back to Lorelei.  
  
"oh my god, I.I remember"  
  
"you remember what mom?"  
  
"Everything, you the diner stars hollow mom and dad, just everything, oh my god I need a coffee"  
  
"that's wonderful mom" Rory said throwing her arms around Lorelei's neck.  
  
"Luke I need to talk to you" Lorelei said "Rory can you go take a seat I need to talk privately with Luke."  
  
"Sure mom, no problem. Hey mom, It's great to have you back"  
  
Lorelei smiled and then went into the kitchen with Luke."  
  
"Luke I realize when I was. under the weather, I said something, I wouldn't have normally said."  
  
"Yeah I know, I didn't take it as the truth, I wasn't willing to let something someone who wasn't in her right mind say stick" Luke said with obvious disappointment.  
  
"I lost my memory Luke, but I was in my right mind, and for some reason, you, and my loving you stuck with me, I do love you Luke, but I don't expect you to love me back, so I was hoping you could just forget I ever said it."  
  
"I don't want to forget you said it Lorelai. I have been waiting for you to say that since I met you. I'm in love with you," Luke said. He smiled slightly. Lorelai needed no more incentive than that to wrap her arms around his neck and kiss him.  
  
"I love you Luke," She said, once the kiss had broken.  
  
"You already said that," He said.  
  
"Yeah, but I like being able to say it," Lorelai said.  
  
"I like hearing it," Luke said.  
  
"You know what else I love?"  
  
"What?" Luke asked.  
  
"Coffee," Lorelai said with a smile.  
  
"Fine, you go out and wait with Rory, and I will get you coffee,"' Luke said with a smile.  
  
"I love you more every second," Lorelai said. She kissed him again and ran out of the room to tell Rory the news.  
  
The end. 


End file.
